Lighting unit



J. H. BLITZER June 8, 1937.

LIGHTING mm Filed Nov. 10, 1934 INVENTOR Jacabjifllii ATTORN EYS Patented June 8, 1937' UNITED STATES 2,083,426, IJGHTINGIIUNI'IYU Jacob H. Blitzer, New

York, Ni. Y.-, assign'or to Lightolier Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 10, 1934, Serial No." 752,422"

9 Claims.

My present invention relates to lighting units,

primarily to fixtures suspended from the ceiling, although in its broader aspect the invention is also applicable to various types of lamps.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a lighting unit by which scientifically cor:- rect and uniform distribution of light may be economically effected, by use .of a fixture which is simple and decorative in appearance. I

Another object is to provide a lighting unit of the above type, affording-a correct combination of indirect and diffusion illumination, by which regions of shadow at any part of the'room are substantially precluded and the fixture in use may be directly viewed without glare.

Another object is to provide a fixture of the above type made up of few simple structural parts, readily assembled, and wheninstalled gives the appearance of an entity of metal and glass without revealing the shadow of any struts, hangers, screws, orother connectors' by which such parts are held together.

Another object is to provide a fixture of the above type, the translucent or glass elements of which may be conveniently cleaned inside and outside without the need for disassembling the unit.

A feature of the invention is the use-of a composite shade bowl made up of a plurality of zone segments, some of which are opaque, preferably of metal, and others translucent, preferably of glass or other vitreous material, the rim of each zone segment contacting the contiguous rim of the neighboring one. The shade is preferably supported from one of the zone segments, the remainin segments resting by gravity thereon.

It is another feature of the invention to provide baiile shield means within the translucent segment or segments to intercept the direct rays 40 of the lamp, each shield preferably integral with a contiguous metal zone segment.

Inapreferred application to a suspended lighting fixture, the polar cap segment of the shade bowl is suspended by hangers from near its pe- 5 riphery and'sustains at its peripheral ledge the inner rim of a vitreous zone segment. which in the preferred embodiment, in turn supports a metal rim zone piece provided with an integral baffle shield surrounded by the translucent seg- 50 ment. 7

Preferably the hangers are so constructed that upon removal of the bowl unit from its support appropriate enlargements on said hangers serve to sustain the smaller zone segments in spaced 55 relation by gravity from the rim piece and thus afford ready access to the interior of all parts for convenience in cleaning.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention:

Fig.1 is a view in longitudinal cross-section of a preferred embodiment of the fixture.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the relation of the bowl elements whendisconnected for convenience of cleaning.

Fig. 3'is an enlarged detail view partly in section showing the connection of the hanger to the polar cap.

4 is an enlarged-detail view taken on line 4'- 4 of '2. r Z

Referring now to" the drawing, there is illustrativelyshown a lamp socket l0 supported by' a fitting I I! "from-tube 'll. Socket IUhas a shield tube I2 thereover from beyond the rim of which the lampbulb l3 protrudes. The lamp socket l0, accordingto familiar practice is preferably adjus'table in height, s'oas to permit proper coordination of the 'lamp bulb, depending on its length, with respect to the shade bowl, now to be described.

The shade bowl, which is of composite construction, is preferablysuspended from the socket shield l2 usuallyfby three hangers s, to be more fully described below. The composite shade bowl is "preferably supported from the polar cap segmerit thereof, shown'as a shallow bowl I1 of sheet, metal, preferably aluminum. Said polar cap segment is provided with a peripheral support ledge I8, for sustaining the inner rim of the translucent or. glass zone segment !9. The hangers extend throughcorresponding apertures ZUfthrough embossments 22, closely contiguous to the su'pport ledge 18 of the polar cap, the. polar cap resting upon'buttons 2| threaded upon the lower ends of the hangers, and which'extend into said embossments 22. ,Preferably the metal. of the buttons 2! is extended outward at flange 23 to line the perforations about hanger s, so as to assure a light-tight joint.

. In the particularembodiment shown, the rim zone segment 25 also preferably of aluminum. rests at its inner peripheral shoulder 28 upon the outer rim of the translucent zone segment l9. In a preferred embodiment, element 25 has an integral extension preferably in the form of a frustro-conical skirt 2! extending inward along the width of the translucent segment l9 and serving, as a baffle to prevent brilliant illumination of said segment, the light penetrating under the the shield" tube and provided with an enlarged head as at 30 at the upper ends thereof, serving as a support, said hanger rods by said arrangement 1 being supported to extend obliquely outward, as shown. The reflector is, of course, provided with corresponding small apertures 34': 'to accommodate the hanger wires s Thefiivires s are in-- serteddownw-ard through said apertures, and after application of the polar cap; ll,'the buttons 2| are threaded upon the lower .ends of said hanger wires and upset at 23 as above described,

Though the operation will be manifest from the above description, it will be briefly summarized. The entire area of the rim segment :25 with its baflie 21 being :of dull aluminum, serves not only as a refiectorforindirect illumination, but by reason of, theunpolished surface of the metal, serves to diffuse the light-without substantial shade demarcation. Such light as passes from the lamp under the inner rim 28 of the baflle 21 causes a soft glow of the translucent segment l9, which not only adds. beauty to the fixture form shadowless illumination is out the room r c When it is desiredto clean the bowl it is merely but diffuses illumination downward to prevent any possible shadow due to the polar cap segment II which extends immediately under the lamp bulb l3. With the use of this fixture substantially uniafforded-throughnecessary. to unhook the hanger wires s at their eyes 33 from the hooks 32, thereby disconnecting the bowl. The bowl does not,.however,- thereby become disassembled, for thepolar-cap l 1, and the translucent segment :18: are, sustained by the hanger eyes 33, as best shown. in Fig, 2, resting on the reflector skirt 2! of the rim piece .25, when the bowl is grasped by said rim piece. Thus the translucent segment 19 drops away from the reflector through a-distance limited bythe length of the hanger wires s whereby the individual shade parts, may be readily=cleaned insidev and outside without disassembly,- and after cleaning maybe reapplied by merely hooking the three hanger wires to the respective hooks 32 .of, the hanger rods.

r Itv will be understood while the: com posite shade bowl is shown ashaving only, three zone segments, one. of which is translucent,,.tlie principle of the invention couldbe applied to shade vbowls of any number of zone segments greaterfor less thanthree; Y j L It is also apparent that the various zone seg ments are not necessarily segments of asphere or of a modified ellipsoid as shown, but may present any of a wide variety of contours, and that the rims of the respective segments are not neces sarily strictly plane as shown but may be scalloped orl given, any of a wide'v'ariety of configurations for'ornamental effects readily produced by any capable designer. l

It will also be understood that the elements of the composite bowl may be held together by the use of any appropriate rigid extension from the rimsegment to the neighborhood of the polar cap segmentarid that a baflle plate need not necessarily beemployed for that purpose.

the invention and is well suited to meet the re-' A quirements of practical use.

'As many changes could be made in the above a construction, withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall'be interpreted as illustrative and. not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire. to secure by Letters Patent isz f r 1. A lighting fixture including a pendant lamp bulb having a socket, a shield about said socket,

a plurality of hangers supported bysaid shield, a composite shade element including a metal, polar cap segment directly sustainedneardts pephery by said hangers, a translucentlzone seg-, ment resting at its inner peripheryon-the rim of said polarcap and wholly supported thereby and a metal rim zone piece having a shoulder at its 's inner periphery resting on the ,outerperipherymf said translucent segment and'wholly supported thereby, said rim zone piece having integral there-..

with a baiile skirt intervening between the main,

While the invention has'its preferred applicaarea of said translucent segment and said'la-mp bulb. I. a. Y 2. The combination; set forth in claim l in; which the baffle skirt is frusto-conical in shape with its inner rimzcontiguous'to thelampbulb and in which the hangers extend-;throug-h,-;cor,-;

responding apertures in saidabaflie'piece.

3. A composite shade bowl :unit for a lighting fixture including a polar cap segment and a ;plu-. rality of zone segments, some of; metal and: the rest of translucent material, the polar cap piece: having a rim ledge for sustaining the inner p eriphery of the contiguous; zone segment, :the outer rim zone-of said shadeybeingnorf meta-l-and in-- eluding an inner shoulderresting on theirim of the contiguous segment and means for sustaining said composite shade and comprising hangers extending through correspondingaperturesin the polar cap segment, closely contiguous ,tothe,sup:- porting ledge thereof andcarrying-enlargements at the lower ends thereof serv-ing, to; close'said' apertures, said polar cap-segment wholly. supporting the remaining segmentsof said shade 'bowl uniti l r w 4. A lighting fixture comprising a pendant lamp bulb having a socket, hangers fixed-,.in--one endwithrespect to said, socket nudge-attending obliquely to clear said lamp ,b1 1lb,,a-shade bowlcomprising a metal polar cap-segment ,having;a; peripheral support ledge and,sustained.near. its periphery by said hangers,,a translucent-shade; zone-segment resting at its inner periphery on said ledge, a metal rim zone segment havingna shoulder at its inner peripheryrestingon the outer;

rim of said translucent segment, and a trash,

hanger rods attached at their upper ends in corresponding apertures of said shield and extending obliquely to clear said bulb, a composite shade including a metal polar cap segment having a peripheral support ledge, said rods having hanger wires detachably connected thereto and extending through corresponding perforations adjacent said support ledge and having enlargements thereon, sealing said perforations and serving as rests for said polar cap, a translucent glass zone segment resting at its inner periphery on said rim ledge, a metal rim zone segment having a shoulder resting on the outer periphery of said translucent segment and a frustro-conical skirt integral with said rim segment with its inner periphery in the neighborhood of the lamp bulb.

6. A lighting unit including a composite bowl having an opaque polar cap, an opaque rim having extension means integral therewith projecting within the bowl to beyond the periphery of the polar cap, hangers. directly supporting said polar car, said hangers having enlargements above the extension means, said enlargements by coaction with said extension means affording clearance but looking the complete separation of the segments of said bowl when the hangers are disconnected from their respective supports.

7. A lighting unit including a composite bowl having an opaque polar cap, an opaque rim segment and an intervening translucent segment, said rim segment having a unitary reflector skirt encircled by said translucent segment and extending to within the rim of the polar cap, a plurality of hangers, each including two elements, an

upper fixed element and a lower disconnectable elements attached at its lower end to the polar cap and extending through the reflector skirt, the upper ends of said lower hanger elements having enlargements for connection to the corresponding fixed hanger elements, whereby upon disconnecting the lower hanger elements from their respective supports the said enlargements will serve to limit the separation of the lower bowl segments with respect to the rim segment.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 in which the upper ends of the lower hanger elements have eyes to be hooked with respect to the lower ends of the fixed hanger elements, the planes of said eyes being substantially at right angles to elongated slots therefor in the reflector skirt.

9. A lighting unit comprising a lamp socket having an enclosing shield tube, hanger elements afiixed at their upper ends to said shield tube and extending obliquely outward therefrom and having hooks at the lower ends thereof, a composite shade bowl including a metal polar cap having hanger wires affixed at the lower ends thereof near the rim of said polar cap and having eyed upper ends coacting with the lower ends of the fixed hanger elements, a translucent shade segment resting on the rim of said polar cap, an opaque rim segment resting on the upper rim of said translucent segment and having an integral reflector skirt, said hanger wires extending through corresponding apertures in said skirt.

JACOB H. BLITZER. 

